Mischief’s Thespians musical on tour – review

Those masters of Mischief and mayhem have launched their first-ever comedy musical… and it delivers Olympic-sized laughs to everyone from the stalls right up to the gods.

Set in ancient Greece, Thespians is a love letter to the profession of acting, which has just premiered at the Mercury Theatre, in that other great colossus of history, Rome’s first UK city, Camulodunum – now known as Colchester.

Thespians is a “first” in every sense. Until now, Mischief have made madcap comedies a big hit, from their beginnings at the Edinburgh (then London) Fringe, to UK tours, the West End and, lately, on both Broadway and TV. The troupe, whose origins go back to the 2008 student intake at London’s LAMDA drama school, have created, produced and performed some of the funniest, innovative and most daring shows in the last 20 years.

Plays have gone wrong, Peter Pan has descended into swashbuckling madness, Movie Night plundered the back catalogue of Hollywood blockbusters, and their take on A Christmas Carol proved a spooktacular hit. But nothing goes wrong in Thespians. It’s five stars of perfection from beginning to end with the entire cast giving riotously entertaining and flawless performances.

Jonathan Sayer‘s book and lyrics are rip-roaringly funny, heartfelt and stirring, while Ed Zanders has composed a song list that slips effortlessly into a story about the very origins of theatre. I detected a sniff of Chicago, with the sultry act two opener, “The Old Man Tango”; Cats is name-checked, and there’s more than a nod to The Wizard of Oz from the show’s on-stage strolling players whose road trip to fame changes all of them.

Set in the historical birthplace of theatre, this version of (ancient) Greece, the musical reveals how the world’s first acknowledged actor, Thespis, came up with the idea of performing in character. If you thought something funny happened on the way to the forum, wait until you see what happens en route to the amphitheatre. The show is a colossus of comedy.

There’s a drought (don’t we know it) and Rhys Taylor‘s wonderfully outrageous ruler, The Tyrant, plans a contest to distract the people. The Dionysia, every bit as “entertaining” as Eurovision, will see the losers put to death (now there’s an idea) and the winners given their own show.

In this story of burning ambition, the swaggering Thespis (James Spence proving every inch the flawed hero) press gangs his friends into staging the very first musical. With his sister Poly (an outstanding Claire-Marie Hall) writing the first script – inscribed on a tablet – and town elder Melampus (Mia Jerome) stepping up as director, that leaves the hopeless Adonis and lovesick Atlas to flesh out the cast.

It’s a rollercoaster ride as the scheming Tyrant connives to win the day, Thespis learns about humility the hard way, Atlas grows a spine, and Marc Pickering‘s Adonis picks up some pointers about loyalty and honesty.

Odds are this will be another surefire West End hit for Mischief, but catch it first on this limited UK tour.